[CT Wolverine]

Metaphysical League Baseball (MLB)
1937 Season


There were two major stories in 1937:
• The plethora of individual milestones reached throughout the season
• Rogers Hornsby and the New York Yankees

The Milestone assault began early, on the same day in fact:
• 4/21: Paul Derringer, 43, ChW, win #300 (10th tie all-time), 6-0, 5 hitter @ Browns &
Josh Beckett, 37, A’s, win # 250, (19th all-time), 9-8 @ home vs Bos. @ G. Maddux
And followed with regularity throughout the season:
• 4/22: Harmon Killebrew, 38, Was, HR #300, 1st in MLB history, 466’ off Sam Gray @ Yankee Stadium
• 5/26: Lou Gehrig, 31, Cin, hit #2000, 2B off Chris Leroux in 12-2 home win vs NYG
• 5/31: Britt Burns, 36, Browns, win #200, 5-3 @ ChW
• 6/3: Bob Black, 36, Red Sox, win #350, 1st in MLB history, 4-1 @ ChW
• 6/27: Frank Robinson, 36, Pit, HR #300, 2nd all-time to Killebrew, off D Davis, Phil
• 7/12: Orlando Cepeda, Cle, hit #3000, (7th all-time), 1B off Connie Johnson, ChW
• 7/23: Billy L Williams, ChW, hit #2000, 2B off Willard Schmidt -3-2 home win vs NYY
• 9/15: Kid Nichols, Cin, win #200, 4-1 @ home vs Bro

Rogers Hornsby, however, was arguably the biggest story of the season. Hornsby started the season at age 38, and shortly turned 39 on April 27th. As the season progressed, Hornsby surpassed the still-active Honus Wagner in career Hits, Runs and Games Played, finishing with a 6-68-.328-2 line for the season and career #s of: 250-1688-.335-140.

Hornsby led the New York Yankees to their 2nd consecutive AL title with an 87-67 mark. Their opponent in the World Series was the Pittsburgh Pirates, also 87-67, led by MVP candidate Larry Hisle and Outstanding Pitcher candidate Billy Hoeft.

The Yankees dominated the World Series, winning 4 games to 2. To cap it, off, Hornsby was named World Series MVP with 0-2-.429/.478/571 5R, 1 2B, 1 3B. Remarkably, Hornsby was 19 years old when he played on the last Yankees World Championship team in 1917.

It was the Yankees 4th World Championship in 5 tries.



1937 Awards and Accomplishments:

Batting Avg: AL: Mike Piazza, Was, .370
Batting Avg: NL: Larry Hisle, Pit, .366
Rookie of Year: AL: Bill Dahlen, Was, 7-71-.305-10
Rookie of Year: NL: Bob Chance, Bro, 14-79-.334-1
Pitcher of Year: AL: Frank Killen, NYY, 23(LL)-7-2.75(LL)
Pitcher of Year: NL: Felix Hernandez, StL, 24(LL)-8-2.61(LL), 162K(LL), Pitching Triple Crown
Hitter of Year: AL: Reggie Smith, Was, 19-122(LL)-.336-15
Hitter of Year: NL: Larry Hisle, Pit, 12-88-.366(LL)-8

Hitting Streaks:
Wade Boggs, Phillies, hit in 24 straight games
Dale Long, ChW, hit in 22 straight games


Individual Game Accomplishments:
Ben Grieve, Browns, 3 HRs in 11-5 win @ NYY
Bruce Bochy, NYG, 6-6, HR, 2 2B, 6 RBI in 18-11 win @ ChC
Andy Carey, Red Sox, hit for cycle, 4-5, BB, 2 RBI in 13-10 home loss to A’s

Individual/Franchise Career Losses:
Red Sox lose two promising young players to career-ending injury this season:
• Ruben Sierra, 20, 3-26-.258-5 in rookie season, career-ending concussion
• Miguel Tejada, 24, 15-101-.285-4, 228 H (car), career-ending torn labrum (shoulder)

Losing streak – Cincinnati Reds, 1936 World Champions, spiraled to a 17-game losing streak in August and September, finishing 66-88, last in NL. They began a rebuilding effort after the season by trading off their two 200-game winning pitchers.

Hall of Fame Inductees:
• Doc McJames, ChC, 281(#14)-264-17-3.68, 4852 IP(#12), 5064 H, 1850 BB, 2322 K(#6), 1.42 WHIP, Rookie of Yr 1911, Pitcher of Yr 1014, led league in Wins 1912 & 1914 (25 each), led league in Ks 5 straight seasons 1912-16 (each >200Ks)

Retired:
• Alex Rodriguez, 38, Red Sox, 1918-27, Cin, 1928-36, 224-1453-.294-238, 2635 H, 1327 R. LL HR(1), RBI(3).
• Addie Joss, 39, NYY, 267-213-54-3.42, 4077.2 IP, 4372 H, 1155 BB, 1098 K, 1.36 WHIP. ROY & Pitcher of Yr 1919, LL W(2), ERA(1)
• Paul Derringer, 44, Phil, 307-334-53-3.70, 5470 IP, 6082 H, 1284 BB, 1643 K, 1.35 WHIP. LL W(1)